The conversation at the COP18 climate change talks in Doha have taken on an urgency unseen in previous meetings, and this time the buzz is most heard among developing nations most likely to get burned by the effects of climate change. As more evidence pours in showing that global temperatures could rise by more than double the two degrees Celsius recommended by scientists and sea levels are rising faster than previously thought, the emphasis has switched from preventing climate change to coping with it. This sentiment is strongest among developing nations that are poorly equipped to handle the loss and damages that they are already experiencing and they are looking to rich nations – the polluters – to take responsibility.

“Developing countries are saying it needs a new [negotiating] track, which means action, not just further discussions. But the developed countries do not want to open that door,” Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, told The Guardian. “It is an important new concept. It could decide whether there is a Doha agreement.”

The Alliance of Small Island States, the Least Developed Countries block and the African Group of Nations represent 100 developing nations that are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the least able to deal with the resulting costs. So they are looking to rich nations to pay them back, and more than one advocacy group supports this notion.

The Guardian reports that the UN University has published research which shows that developing countries deserve to be compensated, and CARE, ActionAid and WWF backed another report, which stipulate that the polluters should be held responsible.